


Necromancing the Stone

by Beltenebra



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat, The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Companionable Snark, Damen and Laurent are in love, Dark Magic, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Jokaste has big axe energy, Kastor isn't evil, M/M, Minor Violence, Reaper Squad cameo, how to pick up boys in a dungeon, implied blupjeans - Freeform, implied taakitz - Freeform, unrepentant smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-26 07:04:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17137220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beltenebra/pseuds/Beltenebra
Summary: Damen and Laurent, scions of powerful magical families, find themselves working together to solve a mystery brewing in the deep forest. They find themselves part of an adventure that just might be a legend in the making.





	Necromancing the Stone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hawberries](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawberries/gifts).



> Happy holidays, hawberries!! I hope your season has been both merry and bright. 
> 
> I know that you enjoy magic, AUs, and D&D so as soon as I got my assignment I knew what I wanted to write. Really, my brain just insisted: ORC DRUID DAMEN! and wouldn't shut up. <.< I had a lot of fun writing this, I hope you enjoy it! <3

Laurent finished chalking the magic circle, closing the last elaborate loop with a practiced flick of his wrist. He stood up carefully to avoid smudging any of the painstakingly drawn runes and surveyed his work. It had taken hours to set up and countless weeks of research, carefully budgeted between class assignments and state duties but he had finally perfected the framework for his new spell. He was going to make the most powerful transmutation stone the academy had ever seen. 

Now he just needed to clear the next eight hours to actually do the thing. Though in his mind, sitting in the middle of the array and focusing his energy was the easy part compared to all of the preparation. 

He was halfway to the door to inform a servant that he was to remain undisturbed until evening when a brisk knock sounded. Laurent’s small smile shifted into narrowed eyes, lips thinning out into a practiced neutral expression. They had sent one of the young, newer pages, likely to head off Laurent’s ire at being interrupted. 

The boy ducked his head in a quick but deferential bow. “Pardon, m’lord, but your father Lord Silverspring requires your presence in the formal library, right away.” 

“Lord Silverspring is extraordinarily lucky that you arrived not five minutes later or he would be out of luck,” Laurent replied dryly. 

The page gave the barest suggestion of a shrug and Laurent sighed. “I suppose it can’t be helped.” He surveyed the workroom and murmured a quick cantrip, ensuring that the chalk markings would not be disturbed before locking it up. The page shifted from foot to foot with nervous energy. Whatever it was must be important. Laurent took pity on the boy, gesturing to the stairs leading down to the main keep, “Alright, let’s away.”

~~~

“I still don’t see why we can’t handle this ourselves,” Damen protested, resisting the urge to tug on the folds of his formal robes. The gold embroidered edges made them scratchy and he hated the length, much preferring to have his arms and legs free to move easily through the dense brush of the forest.

“I’m not going through this with you again, Damen,” his mother’s voice was mild but firm. “The disappearances have become more frequent and closer to our settlements. We’ve a great number of resources at our disposal and so far none of them have uncovered the root of the problem.” 

“But I-” 

A raised hand swiftly cut off Damen’s protest. His mother was by nature a gentle soul but she also led the Circle with an implacable will. “I know you have plenty of ideas, Damen, but there is no shame in requesting help from allies.” She looked at him pointedly, “Allies that we genuinely wish to bind closer to us. This will potentially solve our predicament and improve relations with Neverwinter simultaneously. Besides which, you will be a key participant in the mission. It’s not as if I’ve forbid you from going.” 

“Yeah, because we all know how _that_ would turn out,” Jokaste, Damen’s personal guard, muttered not quite enough under her breath. 

Luckily Lady Egeria was feeling benevolent. She smiled wryly, “Yes, there would be some undoubtedly hilarious attempt at cloak and dagger secrecy as the two of you attempted to insert yourself into the mission. Neither of you are particularly gifted at stealth.”

“Who needs stealth when you can wield a very large axe, Lady,” Jokaste responded cheerfully. Damen just frowned. 

“Whoever they’re sending better be useful. I don’t want to have to lead some incompetent ambassador through the forest by the hand.” 

His mother chuckled to herself, shooting him an amused look that rarely meant good things for him. “If I’ve heard about the leader of the delegation is true, you might very much regret that statement.” 

Before he had time to insist that his irritatingly vague mother clarify, the Neverwinter delegation arrived.

~~~

By the time they reached the heart of the Druids of the Tall Trees enclave, Laurent was beginning to tire of said trees. He liked nature as much as the next person, appreciated properly from horseback on one’s way back to a civilized city. They had been forced to surrender their horses at a outpost leagues back and while Laurent could clearly tell that the dense forest growth would make riding prohibitively dangerous for the horses, he didn’t have to like it.

Nicaise was as infuriatingly at ease picking his way through the underbrush as he was creeping down a Neverwinter alley. Lacking years of rogue training and innate dexterity, Laurent supplemented his natural grace with a series of cantrips to smooth the path. The druid guards leading them to the main settlement were uniformly tall, stern, and quiet. None of them had tried to draw Laurent into conversation and he was just as happy to keep his own counsel. Nicaise, on the other hand, had managed to hone in on the most approachable looking two and had spent the last candlemark or so trading questions and an occasional flirtatious smile. 

Laurent was keeping an ear on their conversation of course, you never knew what little bits of information might be useful later, but the forest was also fairly distracting. The farther in they got, the taller the trees became, at this point the higher branches firmly entwined creating soaring arches and a kind of lingering twilight. 

The only indication that they had arrived at their destination was a pair of banners bearing the insignia of the Druids of the Tall Trees, seemingly woven from living plants. Their escorts formed up in to lines flanking the path and the leader gestured to Laurent and his party to follow. She led them through a curtain of vines that opened into a wide circle, marked out by the tallest trees Laurent had seen yet, the tops lost in fog, the clearing open to a sudden shock of blue sky.

They made their way to the center of the clearing as the guards filed in behind them to form a perimeter. A tall orc woman with gentle eyes was seated on a white birch throne. Laurent assumed she must be Egeria Greenwalker which would make the elven man seated to her right her consort Theomedes Greenwalker and the two young men to her left Damianos and Kastor. Kastor would be the one with the easy smile and gently pointed ears indicating his half elven, half human parentage while Damianos must be… wow.

Laurent knew that with an orc mother and elven father Damianos would stand out but he really hadn’t been adequately prepared. His features were clean, like marble - strong cheekbones and jaw, elegant brows and his mother’s dark eyes. Black curls tumbled down around his shoulders, tucked behind long tapered ears. His full lips were currently pressed into a small frown revealing almost delicate fangs? Tusks? A diminutive version of his mother’s tusks curved up at the corners of his mouth.

“Wow,” Nicaise whispered over Laurent’s shoulder, just low enough for him to hear. Laurent had many years of practice in schooling his expressions, keeping them from betraying his inner thoughts but Nicaise was usually slightly less circumspect. 

The fall of Damianos’s robes hid the details of his physique but couldn’t disguise his height or the breadth of his rather impressive shoulders. Laurent wondered if maybe being a druid involved a bit more than sitting in the woods communing with nature after all. 

“Lord Laurent Silverspring of Neverwinter, we welcome you to The Circle of Tall Trees.” Lady Egeria’s voice was commanding yet musical, easily carrying across the clearing. “Approach and be at ease.” 

Laurent bowed at a precise angle calculated to convey honor to a ruler of nearly equivalent status to his own and approached the throne. “Lady Egeria, we are pleased to be of service to the Circle of Tall Trees. We know a little of your plight but I would very much like to hear it your words.” 

Lady Egeria smiled slightly and began to explain. It seems that over the past year some of the outlying villages and settlements in the Circle’s territory had people go missing mysteriously. It had started slowly, one person here, then in another settlement a few weeks later, two people… members of the Circle were raised in the High Forest and generally wouldn’t fall prey to the same accidents or mishaps that outsiders might in the deep woods. As time went on the disappearances had increased in frequency and also had made their way deeper into the woods, closer to the heart of the Circle. 

Laurent nodded and asked questions at various junctures, doing his best to keep his attention on Lady Egeria, focusing on the matter at hand instead of why Damianos might be scowling at him like he had brought all of the ills of the outside world into their midst instead of just himself, Nicaise, and a handful of guards. 

“Here in the Circle as you can see, people of many races live peacefully, working together as one and in harmony with the forest. We have encountered very few difficulties within our realm but there are many from the outside who might not see such a diverse community in a positive light.” 

“You think someone might be targeting the Circle specifically,” Laurent asked.

“It’s certainly possible. We have gained some notoriety in recent years for powerful magics.” 

Indeed, it had been exactly that which had initially drawn Laurent’s father into an alliance with the Circle to begin with. They had been slowly but steadily building a reputation for deep magical knowledge and powerful rituals since Egeria and Theomenedes had taken over as leaders. 

“We are powerful, but we also seem to have come to the limits of what our power can accomplish,”

“Mother,” hissed Damianos, interjecting into the conversation for the first time. “You can’t just tell these outsiders that-”

“We have performed many rituals,” the Lady continued smoothly, speaking over her son as if he had remained silent. “But none of them have yielded strong results. We are hoping that your very different schools of magic can succeed where we find ourselves lacking.” She leveled a long, considering look at Laurent. “It’s said that you, Lord Laurent, are an exceptionally talented wizard.

Ah, that would be why they had chosen to send him instead of Auguste. Laurent had assumed it was the first born, heir to the throne thing but maybe that wasn’t the entire reason. Auguste was an incredible warrior and gifted tactician but about as magical as a potato.

“I’m still a student, my Lady,” Laurent dissembled, “but perhaps I do have some natural abilities.” 

“My son Damen is also very adept,” Damianos’s scowl deepened. “And very curious about your magic.” 

The druid prince’s eyes shot wide, clearly agitated. Laurent did his best to keep from smirking.

“We would like you to work together, to venture into the forest and uncover the cause of this distressing situation and bring that information to us that we may decide how to stop it for good.” 

It seemed that Laurent and Damen and their personal guards Nicaise and Jokaste along with another guard from both factions would head into the woods to investigate the mystery. Nicaise leaned in to murmur in Laurent’s ear, “With someone like him along we won’t even need guards. He could probably just flex someone to death.” 

Laurent refused to take Nicaise’s bait. Especially considering his strong suspicion that the one  
most strongly affected by Damiano’s flexing would be him.

~~~

They set off the following morning, allowing for an evening for the Neverwinter delegation to recover from their travels. It also gave Kastor and Jokaste enough time to make some truly terrible jokes about Damen investigating the mysteries in the lovely wizard’s pants which Damen _really_ hoped Laurent hadn’t heard but given Kastor and Jokaste’s general lack of anything approaching subtlety, he very much doubted.

It wasn’t that Damen didn’t appreciate Laurent’s… aesthetic. If Damen hadn’t already been partial to blondes Laurent would have changed that. From the gleaming gold hair spilling down around his shoulders to bright blue eyes shining with intelligence from those fine boned features, anyone would have to admit that Lord Laurent Silverspring was beautiful.

He held himself with so much assurance, like he had already taken the measure of every person in the room and knew exactly how to utilize them as resources. In his elegant deep blue traveling robes edged in silver he looked cold, like the perfectly cut crystals in his birch wood staff, like ice. Damen kind of wanted to see if he could be made to melt. Of course Damen, unlike his brother and his favorite guard, planned to keep all of these observations to himself.

Their first strategy meeting had gone surprisingly well. Laurent certainly seemed haughty and aloof at first meeting but proved to be an excellent listener, allowing Damen and his mother’s counselors to explain their experiences of the past few months in detail. He asked thoughtful questions and only offered his input after they’d given him all the information.

Damen walked them through the map of their territory, the disappearances marked in red, an angry rash spreading across his forest. The earliest attacks had started a ways to the north, in one of the deepest, least settled parts of the woods.

“As much as I am loath to venture into even more wild than this,” Laurent said ruefully, “I think tracking the attacks to their origin will give us the most useful information. We can always follow the trail back here. Then we won’t be retracing our steps unnecessarily.” 

Damen and their advisors had agreed and fully equipped, the small group set out on foot. He had lobbied strongly for a small party: just him and Laurent, their personal guards Jokaste and Nicaise, and two Circle guards. Egeria protested until Laurent added his support, pointing out that these incidents had now occured in well populated areas so more bodies wouldn’t necessarily help them. But that the ability to move quickly and quietly certainly would. 

So there they were a few hours later, the six of them following Damen whose internal compass led them steadily north. Laurent’s brain working through all of the potential threats. The dizzying array of options with no useful information was making him twitchy and slightly irritable. He was trying his best to be diplomatic but he wasn’t entirely successful.

Laurent studied Damen while Damen studied the map. He was nothing like the casters Laurent encountered at the academy or court. For one thing, he was very well built. He looked like you could drop a boulder on him and it would just crumble around him. Or like he could pick up a boulder? No, bad line of inquiry, he shouldn’t be thinking about the sleek bulges of muscle that were Damen’s arms. Or legs for that matter. His gaze trailed helplessly down over said legs, completely exposed by Damen’s barely knee-length tunic. He hadn’t gone on many trips like this but he was sure what Damen was wearing pretty inappropriate. 

Laurent’s eyes focused on Damen’s footwear. Yes, feet, those were safe. He prodded Damen’s exposed toes gently with his boot. “You’re wearing sandals. On an… adventure? Mission? Whatever this is. It’s not a stroll on the beach.”

“You’re telling me, Silverspring.” Jokaste cut in with a chuckle, who had been moving through the forest surprisingly quietly considering her own heavy leather armor. “I had to talk him _up_ to sandals. He wanted to go barefoot.”

Damen just moved his foot way from Laurent and rolled his eyes. “Come on, it’s this way.” 

A short while later Laurent breached the comfortable quiet, “Please let us know if there are any particular signs we should be looking for as we go, Nicaise has very sharp eyes.” 

“He seems like an odd choice for a guard,” Damen replied, glancing back at the slight, unassumingly pretty young man in cheerful conversation with Jokaste. Nicaise looked up right then and threw him a playful wink. Damen had thought he’d pitched his voice low enough that he wouldn’t be heard but maybe he was mistaken. 

Laurent chuckled, “Nicaise is the perfect choice for a bodyguard. He’s mostly unobtrusive.”

Damen considered the man whose polished good looks and flashy jewelry seemed more than a little memorable to him and shot Laurent a dubious look. 

“Well, people certainly don’t know he’s a guard. Or at all dangerous.”

Not a breath later, Damen felt a hard jab to his kidney region and froze. How had he moved so fast? 

“I’m sneaky.” Damen could heard the grin in Nicaise’s voice. “People don’t even see me coming until it’s too late. You know, due to my attacks of sneakiness.” 

“He’s got you there, boss,” Jokaste added merrily before turning to the rouge, “Can you teach me how to do that?”

Nicaise made a show of considering the tall blond warrior, taking in her armor and the wicked looking ax strapped to her back. “Probably not. But it would be fun to try!”

“I’m glad to see they’re getting along,” Damen added dryly.

Laurent gave him a sideways glance, his expression was neutral but Damen could see the wheels turning in his mind.

“I know you didn’t really want us to come here,” 

“No… I-” 

“It’s ok,” Laurent cut in smoothly. “I’m sure I would feel similarly in your position. But I think we can help.” He looked off into the gloom of the forest. “I want to help.” 

Damen wasn’t sure exactly how to respond so he didn’t. Laurent let the moment stretch almost to the point of awkwardness before tilting his head back toward Damen. “We’re getting along too, aren’t we, Daminanos?” 

He couldn’t help but smile then, a small but genuine smile that turned his lips up around his tusks. “Call me Damen.”

~~~

It had taken them about three days to reach the areas where the first incidents occurred. The group had fallen into a kind of easy camaraderie. Nicaise and Damen’s warrior had decided pretty much immediately that they were long lost bosom companions which amused Laurent to no end. Nicaise was charming and outgoing but it was rare for him to genuinely _like_ the person he was buttering up. Laurent personally thought it was good for him to make a friend that he wasn’t trying to play to some advantage.

Their Circle guards Dur and Amaryll were quiet and competent, deferring to Damen but pitching in with everyone. Laurent had expected to find this journey much more odious than he did. Trekking through the wilderness wasn’t exactly high on his list of ways to spend his time but somehow he was enjoying himself. The shared campfires and camaraderie was a nice change from the rather studious, competitive environment at the academy. If only they didn’t have the looming spectre of some shadowy threat hanging over their heads. 

Amaryll was up ahead, clearing a path through a particularly dense area of brush, the rest of them following in single file, high shrubs pushing in on either side. They’d been moving at a good pace when Damen came to a very sudden stop, causing Laurent to run right into his back. He practically bounced off and tried very hard not to notice how solid Damen felt. 

“Ow! Stars, Damen, are you really just a wall of muscle or are druids actually part tree,” he complained. 

Damen sucked in a quick breath, muttering to Jokaste who was walking ahead of him, “If you make anything even remotely akin to an inappropriate wood joke, you are _fired forever_.” 

Luckily, Laurent had very good hearing. He smirked to himself in the forest gloom.

The druid turned back to smile archly at Laurent, “I’m not _just_ a wall of muscle, you know. I have a few other useful parts.” 

“Oh, come on!” Jokaste’s anguished cry was too much for Laurent, he had to laugh.

Damen looked at him, seemingly dumbstruck. 

“What,” Laurent asked, a touch self-consciously. “You look like you’ve just seen a unicorn.” 

He wasn’t an expert but he swore that Damen’s dusky cheeks looked a little flushed all of a sudden.

“Damianos,” Dur called back from the front of the group, “I think we’ve found something.”

The path they’d made opened up into a small clearing, a perfect circle in the dense vegetation, the edges slightly charred, clearly made with magic.

“This is right in the area where the first disappearances were reported, Damen,” Jokaste said, consulting the map. It could be the site of one of the first incidents.” 

Other than the unnatural clearing there were no signs of anything amiss. No broken branches or dropped items, no splashes of any fluids, no signs that anyone besides them had been there at all.

But Laurent could feel something terribly off, something dark thrumming just under the surface.

Damen stepped up to the largest tree around the perimeter and lay his hands against the trunk. He closed his eyes and murmured something, activating the spell. Laurent watched with interest as his face was bathed in a gentle green glow, trying but failing to identify the soft, sibilant language he was speaking almost under his breath.

After a few moments Damen stepped back with a small, frustrated shake of his head. “The trees can’t tell me anything. They were effectively blinded to whatever happened here.”

“Time for me to earn my keep, I suppose,” Laurent said, whispering the incantation to detect magic. On the surface he got nothing, just that same vague but ominous feeling. He closed his eyes, frowning, and pushed deeper. Something was there, something that had been covered up with layers and layers of obfuscation. There! 

It felt like a pit opened up under his feet. Laurent wrenched his eyes open with a gasp, the clearing was lit up, sinister energy dancing around the circle like ultraviolent lanterns. 

“It’s necromantic,” he said, voice clipped with the effort of holding the spell. “Someone or someones were killed here and their life force was syphoned off.” He released the spell with a gasp. There was nothing more he could get from it.

“Laurent, that’s very specific,” Damen said with a tinge of wonder. “I didn’t think detect magic could reveal that much information.” 

“With the right combination of technique and raw power, you can achieve surprising results,” Laurent replied. “The spell was brutal, no finesse, no refinement. They only tried to hide their tracks much later. I’d guess that as things progressed, as the attacks got closer to your interior settlements, they got more sophisticated.” 

“That proves it’s deliberate intent on someone’s part and not some kind of beast,” Dur offered uneasily. 

“You think we might be close to some kind of lair,” Nicaise mused. “A ground zero of sorts?” 

“Let’s all be on our guard,” Damen concluded. “It’s nearly dusk, we can’t stay here but we should find somewhere to camp before full dark.” 

A frustrating candlemark of searching revealed no perfect campsite, no convenient clearing unless you counted murder grove which Laurent did not consider on the table. Tempers were starting to fray, Laurent could see Damen’s brow furrowed in concern in the glow of the witchlights he’d cast to hold the deepening gloom at bay. 

The others were discussing which direction they should push out towards when Laurent saw something through the trees off to his left. A darker patch of darkness. “I may have found something,” he called, heading towards it, expecting the others to follow him. He stepped out of the grove of trees just before the rest of the party, coming face to face with what seemed to be the entrance of a cave. 

The rocks were moss covered and hard to distinguish from the rest of the forest in the twilight darkness but it was unmistakably a cave, the opening just a little taller than Damen and pitch black. 

“Great,” Nicaise said wryly, “Deep, dark cave. Just the kind of place I wanted to spend the night.” 

“At least it’s defensible,” Jokaste countered, hands tightening on the grip of her ax. “Better than out in the open with potential necromancers.” 

Laurent cast another quick spell, there didn’t seem to be anything particularly magical about it. Maybe sometimes a big creepy cave was just a cave. 

“Shall we,” he asked Damen, arching a brow. 

“I suppose we must,” Damen agreed with a small smile. 

They stepped forward, clearing the edge of stone just before their companions.

And BAM. Sudden, absolute darkness pressed in around them.

They both cried out in surprise, Laurent whirling, hands coming up to press against what was now a distressingly smooth, solid wall behind him where the open mouth of the cave should have been. 

Damen’s shoulder brushed his and Laurent leaned into his side for a moment, the solid bulk of him reassuring. At least he wasn’t alone. 

“Can you try blasting it?” Damen’s breath stirred Laurent’s hair, he was so close. Laurent tried to repress his answering shiver. 

“Yeah, I’ll try though it’s a strong enough spell to hide its tracks from me. I wouldn't get your hopes up.”

“Fair enough,” Damen agreed, sounding outwardly calm at least. Laurent was glad for it, his own mind spinning like overworked gears, thoughts sparking off in a dozen directions.

“Ok, let’s… step back a bit,” he warned.

Before he could move, Damen put his big hands on his shoulders, moving them both away from the former entrance, slowly and methodically making their way in the blackness.

“First thing’s first,” Laurent muttered, resummoning his dancing lights, hoping that the blue tinge would hide his blush. Damen was still close, holding his shoulders protectively, looking down at him intently. “Ok, hold onto your sandals.” He avoided the temptation to lean forward into Damen’s chest and instead, just reached past him. 

Laurent focused his energy and let a pinch of cave dust fall from his hand and bright green light shot from his open palm, slicing across the obstructing wall in sharp, deadly angles. What the spell should have done was send the wall crumbling down into tiny, useless pebbles. What the spell did do was nothing. Laurent’s magic bounced harmlessly off the offending wall and sparkled into nothingness. 

“Holy crow, Laurent,” Damen breathed. “That was very powerful magic.” 

He had no idea how to respond to that. Yes, it was, of course he knew that but it obviously did nothing. He looked up at Damen helplessly and shrugged. 

“I mean, I don’t know any of the specifics of what you study but I can sense power and that was… a lot,” Damen elaborated. “We must be dealing with someone pretty serious if they can set that kind of trap.” 

“Yes,” Laurent agreed. “And now we’re stuck in here, seperated from our companions with no food or water,”

“No _spell components_ ,” Damen intoned darkly. 

Laurent snorted. He’d had many years of finding ways around the academy’s protocols, sneaking ingredients he wasn’t supposed to have to study spells that he was told were above his level or off-limits. He often found himself improvising. “Anything can be a spell component if you believe in yourself, Moonbeam.” 

“What did you call me,” Damen asked with mild alarm. 

“Not important! We can’t get out this way so we’re going to have to go through. You can create water, right?” 

Damen nodded. 

“Good. Then at least we won’t die of dehydration.”

“I had special teas in there, for stamina,” Damen said, his voice very close to a whine..

Laurent looked at him impassively, an eyebrow cocked. 

The half-orc flushed. “For _adventuring!”_

Damen had stepped back a bit, taking his hands from Laurent’s shoulders, he tried to ignore the sudden sense of loss. “I guess we should get started, huh?” He tried to sound confident but he could hear the thread of uncertainty in his voice as they gazed out into the deep unknown of the cave. 

“No time to waste,” Damen said, not sounding any more steady than Laurent which made him feel better for some reason. “Here,” Damen said, taking Laurent’s left hand, lacing their fingers together and squeezing gently. “So we don’t get separated.” 

“Yes, good thinking,” Laurent agreed softly. “Lead on.” His witchlights followed the sweep of his free hand, throwing blue lit shadows up around them as they made their way forward into the dark. 

~~~

At first they both kept as quiet as possible, ears straining for any sound beyond the faint drip of water somewhere ahead and the occasional moan of wind in the tunnels.

“That’s good,” Laurent said. “It means there is, in fact, some way out of this place.” 

The wizard had taken to pressing his palm into the rock about every thirty feet or so, leaving a perfect impression of his hand in glittering sapphire.

“It’s hard to imitate,” he’d explained with an arched eyebrow, “and you know, it does look impressive.” Damen had laughed and Laurent answered with a small smile so things weren’t completely terrible.

They’d given up trying to create any kind of map of the cave system in favor of simply marking where they’d been. Damen’s dark vision was extremely useful, between that and Laurent’s markers they were fairly sure they were moving forward and not in useless circles.

It was very hard to tell how much time was passing in the cave. After a while, maybe a few hours of nothing but the two of them creeping along they’d both relaxed a tiny bit, talking in low voices, hands still linked between them. 

Laurent was telling Damen about his studies, still mildly incredulous that the druid was actually interested. “No one ever lets me talk about transmutation theory as much as I actually want to,” he mused. “They tend to go a little blank in the eyes around the thirty minute mark.” But Damen was interested. He’d never gotten to discuss magic with someone with a mind like Laurent’s - quick and bright and sharp enough to cut. He asked questions and floated a few theories of his own, colored by his own magical experience. Laurent’s grin was a light, golden thing in the darkness.

Suddenly they heard a scuffling sound - they both froze and strained their hearing. The sound resolved itself into something like the scrape of boots on stone, perhaps the soft clank of armor. And then, faint voices in conversation.

Laurent snapped his lights out with a flick of his hand and they pressed themselves flat up against the cave wall. Damen could see a bend in the tunnel about twenty feet away and it seemed like the noises were coming from that way. They could hear a bit better now, two voices, though they couldn’t quite make out the words. The speakers didn’t sound hurried or alarmed so they must have thought they were alone, Damen and Laurent could surprise them.

He looked down at Laurent who if he was nervous at suddenly being blind in the dark with an enemy approaching, gave no outward indication. The wizard looked up at Damen and mouthed ‘I’m ready’. Damen squeezed his hand in return before pulling away gently to ready a spell.

The speakers finally turned the corner - shit, one of them was a dwarf which meant they were immediately spotted. 

“Who the hell are you,” the dwarf demanded. “You’re in deep-”

Suddenly both men were silent, the dwarf and his human companion. Their mouths were moving but they’d clearly been magically silenced. The human raised a glowing hand, but when his mouth moved in the words to a spell nothing happened. Laurent smirked triumphantly. 

‘So smart’, Damen thought. Laurent had simultaneously prevented them from casting spells with voice commands and drawing attention from other enemies. Damen murmured a spell of his own and thick spikes thrust up under their enemies’ feet. The dwarf pulled out a crossbow and leveled it at them, eerily silent until the bolt left the sphere of silence and zipped just over Laurent’s left shoulder to clatter against the tunnel behind them. 

The human struggled forward through Damen’s thorns, obviously taking some damage but determined to escape. He cleared the barrier just as Laurent launched another spell, the two of them strangely in synch as they shot magic missiles at each other. One of the enemy’s hit Damen in the shoulder, a sharp shock of pain, while the other two got Laurent right in the torso. He took the hit with a furious hiss and Damen saw red. 

Damen’s wall of fire sprang up almost instinctively, centered on the human caster. The dwarf sprang back, tumbling just out of the silent zone with a strangled shout, still caught by the edges of the thorns. The human wasn’t so lucky, he collapsed almost immediately with a silent cry, the light of his magic blinked out abruptly.

Laurent whistled low under his breath and raised his hand to fire off another spell but the bolt of energy pinged harmlessly off the stone where the dwarf had been standing. He’d moved surprisingly quickly, disappearing around the corner.

As suddenly as they appeared the flames vanished, leaving only a few scorch marks on stone and their fallen enemy. 

Laurent blinked a few times, eyes dazzled from the sudden transition from dark to blazing light to dark again and he called his mage lights back up. 

“I guess we should investigate and see if there is any useful information to be uncovered,” he said, moving forward with a tiny wince that he nearly managed to conceal.

Damen joined him in inspecting the dead man. He was wearing plain black robes, belted with multiple pouches containing scrolls and spell components. Laurent confirmed that some of them were necromancy spells. His face was plain, his skin unmarked. It wasn’t until they found the amulet, buried under his robes that they got anything useful.

It was made of some dark metal, depicting a black eye surrounded by… fingers?

“The Red Fingers,” Laurent said decisively. “They worship a lich lord called Vecna. I’ve read about them - splinter cells have cropped up all over Faerun.” He smiled up at Damen ruefully. “Just your luck that the Circle’s turn to deal with them finally came around. Just to be completely sure…” Laurent peered down at the dead man’s hands and murmured a spell. The ring finger on the man’s left hand winked out of existence, revealing a long healed stump. “Yes, that’s definitely them,” the wizard concluded. “Damn, they’re nasty business.” 

“If we can find our way out of here, we can formulate a proper plan and come back with reinforcements,” Damen said, trying to sound calm and confident. 

“No problem,” Laurent replied breezily. “Fight our way out of the scary cave and drag an army back through the woods.”

Damen must have looked reproachful because Laurent smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry to be flippant. If anyone can make that happen, I believe it’s you, Damianos.” 

He held out a hand to help Laurent to his feet. The other man stood quickly, swaying ever so slightly. 

“Hmm. That last magic missile might have done more damage than I realized.” 

Damen immediately slid an arm around his shoulders to steady him. “Here, let me.” He reached out and gathered his power again, his hand glowing against Laurent’s pale skin. Damen watched the color return to Laurent’s cheeks with satisfaction and if Laurent suspected that it wasn’t really necessary for Damen to slide his hand up and brush a gentle thumb along the line of his cheekbone to heal him, he wasn’t saying anything. 

“We should find somewhere to rest for a while. We’ve both expended considerable energy casting and we haven’t slept in…” The wizard trailed off, trying to calculate. It had been nearly night when they first got trapped and surely hours since then. “A while. I’m naturally a night owl,” 

Of course he was. Damen, who was nearly always up with the sun, could picture Laurent perfectly - situated in his study surrounded by books with his candles and mage lights burning into the night as he worked on his next theory. 

“But this is a little extreme.” 

Damen agreed and they investigated the bend in the tunnel where the dwarf had taken off earlier. There was a passage that branched off in the opposite direction and a little ways down an outcropping of boulders what would sufficiently hide them from people approaching in both directions. It seemed as good a place as they were likely to find.

There was a bit of an awkward shuffle while they tried to decide the best arrangement for sitting. After a few minutes of frustration, Damen shoved his embarrassment down deep and settled with his back to the cave wall, gently pulling Laurent down to sit against him with his back to Damen’s chest. “This way we can drape your cloak over both of us,” he said matter of factly. 

Laurent chuckled and Damen could feel it where they were pressed together. “Well, it hardly seems fair to you to be sitting against the stone while I get a much more comfortable arrangement but I shan’t complain.” 

A few minutes passed while Damen considered very hard if he might be permitted to put his arms around Laurent. It felt very strange to leave them just lying there at his sides. 

Laurent solved the problem a minute later by reaching down to twine their hands together again. “So we don’t get separated, right?”

“Right,” Damen agreed softly, bringing both arms up to hold Laurent close.

“I don’t often find myself in a position to get close to people,” Laurent’s voice was careful, his words measured. “Why is it so easy with you?” 

Damen wasn’t really sure if the other man expected a real answer but he felt like he should say what had been on his mind as well. “I’m not sure, but I think I know what you mean. Our abilities, they seem… compatible.” 

A few more minutes of much more comfortable silence passed before Laurent murmured, “I’ve never engaged in a real battle before. That is, I’ve never used my magic with the intent to injure someone. Though I have always been capable.” 

Damen squeezed his hand reassuringly, “It’s not a thing I like doing.” 

“I’m sorry that you’ve had to. Now and in the past. I imagine we’ll both have to steel ourselves for more of that before this is finished.” 

“That seems likely,” Damen said. “For now, let’s try to get some sleep.”

~~~

Laurent had no concept of how long they’d slept. His thoughts moved sluggishly as his brain ground into motion. He should invent some kind of magical time keeper. Something more portable than a waterclock, maybe it could track the phases of the moon too. It would make him so much gold… he could build his own wizard’s tower. ‘Out in the woods somewhere? Near a certain druidic enclave, perhaps?’ A little voice inside his head speculated gleefully. Laurent ignored it.

Waking up in Damen’s embrace was a very interesting experience. Granted, he had very few similar experiences to compare it to so each one was by nature interesting in some way but this was something entirely new. Despite the chill of the cave Laurent was very warm. Damen’s arms were comfortingly solid around his middle and he found the light, rumbling snore in his ear rather soothing. 

He wished he didn’t have to wake Damen up. Or that they could wake up in dramatically different circumstances. His soft, blanket-piled bed back in Neverwinter would be nice. He could turn in Damen’s embrace and watch the sun move over his dusky skin before leaning in to press his lips against Damen’s. He could imagine the pressure of Damen’s mouth, those teeth against his tongue and- 

And he was entertaining entirely too many fantasies for their current situation. He allowed himself one short, frustrated sigh and nudged Damen’s shoulder until he awoke. 

While they cleaned themselves up with some of Damen’s conjured water, they formulated a plan. 

“I imagine your tracking skills are fairly good,” Laurent suggested. 

Damen looked frustrated. “I am very useful in the forest but far less effective underground. Do you know some kind of magical tracking spell? Maybe we could key it to someone outside?” 

Damn, that was a good idea. Too bad Laurent didn’t know any spells like that. 

“I could possibly try to cobble something together but without my reference books it would take… a prohibitively long time.” He tried not to let too much of his bitterness seep into his voice. There was something they were missing, he could feel it hovering just out of reach. An idea as ephemeral as- 

“I’ve got it! You’ve felt air moving down here, right?” 

The druid nodded, “Yes, the chill isn’t solely due to being underground. It’s also drafty.” 

“Yes, and if there’s a draft that means the air is being drawn to somewhere.” 

Damen’s eyes lit up. “Of course! We just need to make some kind of smoke-”

Laurent flipped his hand up and conjured a thick plume of lavender mist. “And follow it out.” 

They exchanged a triumphant grin. Laurent allowed himself a quick mental pat on the back.

“Tymora willing,” Damen said, giving his shoulder an encouraging squeeze, “we’ll make it out without encountering any more trouble.”

Of course they weren’t so lucky. The dwarf must have alerted the rest of the group, they’d clearly sent out a party to capture them. Someone considered them a serious threat because it was five to two. As far as Laurent could tell they had three spell casters, at least two of which were versed in necromantic magic, and two fighters. One of whom was very effectively keeping them pinned with very accurate arrow fire. Damen already had an angry red slice across his shoulder from an arrow he barely dodged. 

They had taken shelter behind a stone outcropping but surely the enemy would be maneuvering to flush them out as soon as they could. First thing was first, they had to take out the archer. Laurent quickly mimed shooting a bow and then an explosion gesture to make sure Damen understood his intention. Damen nodded and threw up a shimmering shield spell as Laurent stood up to hurl a fireball. 

Two arrows and a magic missile bounced harmlessly off Damen’s barrier and Laurent grinned fiercely. Three of the cultists lept to safety, avoiding the conflagration but one of the wizards clearly took some damage and the archer’s longbow went up in her hands like kindling. Laurent counted that as a success. 

As the fight wore on successes were harder to come by.

Laurent gritted his teeth, ignoring the icy pain in his left leg from an unavoidable frost bolt. He and Damen were burning through their magic at an alarming rate. He knew that they were better than all of their opponents save one. But they were still outnumbered and the attrition was going to kill them.

They’d taken out two of the magic users and ranger’s ranged attacks but their warrior was still alive and well and protecting that damn necromancer. The man was powerful and smart and Laurent was sure he meant their doom. Damen spit out another spell causing thick and thorny vines to erupt beneath their enemies. The fighter spun to hack at the closest ones and Damen must have seen an opening because stood and reached out, aiming another spell at the man while he was distracted.

Time slowed to a crawl. Laurent saw the arc of sickly violet leave the necromancer’s hand, out of the corner of his eye he saw Damen move a fraction of a second too late. He moved instinctively, shouldering Damen out of the way with a grunt of effort. 

He felt the crackle of energy where it impacted him square in the chest. The pain took him immediately, he was made of agony. He had always been here, in this dark place of brittle bone and searing cold. He was distantly aware that he was screaming. 

He heard Damen’s answering scream - a deep guttural thing that transformed into an angry roar halfway through. And suddenly where Damen had been standing there was a huge black bear. It glanced back at him for a second with Damen’s dark, liquid eyes before charging forward at their foe. 

‘Well, that’s a neat trick’ was Laurent’s last thought before slipped into unconsciousness. 

“Laurent, wake up. I can tell you’re still alive. _Please_ , wake up.” 

Damen? That was Damen… he sounded like he was on the edge of hysteria, barely hanging on. Laurent clawed his way out of the blackness and blinked his eyes open to see Damen bent low over him, those large, lovely eyes of his bright with unshed tears.

He coughed twice, an uncomfortable rattle in his chest, and his voice sounded pathetically thin to his own ears. 

“You know what they say about wizards, darling.” 

“I don’t know that I do, actually,” Damen choked out, managing nearly half a smile despite himself. 

“Mind of fire, will of steel, body of tissue paper,” Laurent laughed weakly. 

Damen bent down just enough to touch his forehead to Laurent’s, a brief but impossibly tender gesture. 

‘Great,’ thought Laurent, ‘if I actually survive this with my body intact, he’s going to break my heart’

The druid closed his eyes and breathed deeply as the gentle green glow rose up around them. Laurent could feel the power move through him as some of his wounds began to knit back together. It was kind of unnerving. He’d never had cause to be on the receiving end of so much healing before. This must be what adventuring was all about. As far as Laurent was considered, it was overrated. 

A few moments later, the light faded and Laurent felt strong enough to sit up. Damen hadn’t moved so he found himself face to face with the half-orc. There were so many reasons why this was a terrible idea. They were facing near certain death, all of these feelings were surely stress and proximity induced and could fade to awkward nothingness by the light of day, they were both people with huge responsibilities in their respective spheres… Laurent could go on. But with the near certain death looming especially large, Laurent considered Damen’s dark, fond eyes, the curls that felt just as silky as they looked when Laurent raised his hand up to tangle in them gently, the full lips that had parted in a faint gasp, those tusks that were absolutely driving him mental, and said ‘Fuck it’. 

Damen was already tilting his head when Laurent moved, his strong arms tightening to pull Laurent in against him. Kissing Damen was like the rush of a new spell - a physical zing of energy he could feel from toe to crown. Their lips met softly at first, not tentative but careful, moving slowly. They seemed to come to the mutual decision after a few moments that they needed more. Laurent opened his mouth to Damen and suddenly the kiss was deep and wet and drugging and when Damen pulled back just enough to catch Laurent’s lower lip playfully with his teeth he lost his damn mind. 

Next thing he knew he’d pushed Damen back against the wall so he could straddle those ridiculously solid thighs of his. He worked his way down Damen’s throat with biting, sucking kisses while Damen wound one hand tight into his hair, the other hesitating for a second before palming his ass. 

He groaned and ground down against him, both of them hard in the confines of their clothes. The not unsubstantial remains of his injuries protested but Laurent summoned his willpower and told them to take a flying leap as he flexed his hips against Damen’s. 

“What do you want,” Damen managed to stutter out before Laurent kissed him again. “I’ll give you anything.” Laurent believed him too - with that wide, worshiping gaze. He wondered if Damen knew how transparent he was, how people could use that to their advantage. Then Damen cupped his cheek in one of those large, graceful hands and Laurent found himself turning his face into it and kissing his palm and knew he had no leg on which to stand. 

“Everything. I want everything.” 

Damen’s clothing was ridiculously simple - just a matter of shoving his belted tunic up and his underbreeches down. Laurent, on the other hand was wearing rather tight-fitted breeches under his robes. He moved Damen’s hands back to the seat of his pants. “Just rip them,” he commanded breathlessly. “I’ll mend them after.” 

He smirked a bit as Damen nearly choked on his own breath but complied immediately, tearing the fabric perfectly down the seam, exposing Laurent to the chill air. A quick prestidigitation later and Damen’s fingers were slick with oil. He made a soft, surprised sound but understood what he was meant to do. 

Laurent got a hand on Damen just as the half-orc slid the pad of finger gently over his hole. They gasped in unison. Laurent wet his own hand and stroked Damen slowly from root to tip, pushing his ass back into Damen’s touch in a mute plea for more. Gods, he was big - just like the rest of him, Damen’s cock was thick and solid - hot silk over steel, jerking softly in Laurent’s grip. Damen breached him with a finger and Laurent was sure it had never felt so good. It must be the edge of danger but it seemed like the other man knew exactly how to touch him, sliding in and out just so, catching ever nerve and lighting him up from the inside. Laurent was moaning when Damen got to two fingers and when he finally, _finally_ worked the third in he keened, a high, desperate sound. 

“Mmmm, I’ve got you, don’t worry,” Damen soothed, his voice husky in Laurent’s ear. 

He twisted his wrist and tightened his fingers around the crown of Damen’s cock in retaliation just to hear him groan helplessly. “Now, Damen.” 

To his credit, he didn’t argue at all, he just pulled Laurent’s hips up into position, spreading him open with those amazing fucking hands of his. Laurent could feel the blunt head of him nudging at his entrance and it was driving him crazy. Damen was just looking up at him with this indescribable look on his face - something hot and bright and impossible. He surged forward to take his mouth again and sank down onto his cock.

Damen made a soft noise against Laurent’s lips as he bottomed out. Laurent revelled in the stretch and the slight burn of Damen inside him. It had been a while and Damen was big and it was so _so_ good. Neither of them took time to catch their breath, moving in unison, surging together like waves. Maybe it was the leftover adrenalin from the fight, the imminent danger, the first time desperation, whatever it was, Laurent knew this wasn’t going to last long.

He could feel Damen’s harsh breaths against his throat, his own hands tight on those broad shoulders as he drove his hips down to meet Damen’s. He moved so perfectly inside him, each powerful thrust lighting him up, sparks arcing down his spine. Damen shifted his grip minutely, hitching Laurent’s hips up just a little and he struck a spot deep inside that made Laurent dizzy with pleasure.

He must have gasped because Damen made a satisfied sound. “There? Is that where you need it, _right there_?” 

Laurent neglected to respond verbally, instead kissing Damen with a ferocity that was answer enough. 

The druid freed a hand to stroke Laurent’s cock and his pleasure saturated body twitched in his hold. He tightened viciously around Damen to make him gasp. 

“Laurent, are you- gods, please tell me you’re close. I can’t-” 

He didn’t bother answering that either, he just threw his head back and let himself go, let the sensations wash over him in a wave, pulling him under, pleasure flooding his body as he came. 

Damen groaned and pulled him impossibly closer, thrusting through the throes of Laurent’s orgasm, releasing hot and deep inside him a few moments later.

As quickly as they had climbed, they came down slowly - harsh breaths softening, caresses growing gentle and languid. After some time, Damen gently disengaged and Laurent cleaned them up with another swift spell and fixed his pants while he was at it. 

They came to a quick mutual agreement that they should try to sleep while they could and this time Damen showed no hesitation arranging Laurent to his satisfaction. He ended up with his back to the wall again, Laurent tucked across his lap, head pillowed against the curve of his shoulder with Damen’s cheek resting on the crown of his head. 

All in all, if he had to die in the next few candlemarks or so, Laurent would have to admit that he wasn’t entirely dissatisfied. He drifted off to sleep soothed by Damen’s leafy, musky scent and gentle fingers in his hair.

~~~

Waking up with Laurent in his arms was everything Damen had never knew he wanted. Logically he knew that the stress of their situation made everything feel more immediate and powerful. But his heart knew its business. How was it that he’d gone so long without meeting someone like Laurent - his perfect complement in so many ways.

The wizard blinked open his lovely pale eyes and stretched a little. Damen watched as his initial contented smile melted into confusion.

“Ok, I know that whatever happened before we passed out was pretty incredible but I was also still very seriously injured, was I not?” 

Damen schooled his face into a carefully neutral expression but Laurent wasn’t fooled. He wondered if _anything_ got past him. 

“And now, I seem to be fully restored to the bloom of health.” He narrowed his eyes. Did you....” He seemed to be searching for words, a novel concept from what Damen knew of him. “Did you sex heal me?”

Damen tried to keep from blushing through sheer force of will but the heat in his face belied his efforts. “It’s not something I really like to talk about.” 

“I can hardly imagine how it would come up in conversation,” Laurent said dryly. “While I and my internal organs certainly appreciate it, let’s not go spreading that information around.” He reached up to tuck a curl behind one of Damen’s ears, caressing his face in the process and Damen couldn’t not kiss him. 

He responded enthusiastically and several moments passed in enjoyable near silence. Eventually though, they had to face the situation at hand. 

“I thought I’d lost you,” Damen said softly, one hand still carding gently through the silken gold of Laurent’s hair. 

“I was sure you had. I’m fairly certain that was Finger of Death he cast. If I’d died, I would’ve come back as an undead thrall.” Laurent stopped short, considering. “Actually, I have no idea what happened at the end there. Did you turn into a big, fuck-off bear or did I hallucinate that?” 

“Oh yeah. That happened. I kind of… lost my mind a bit.” That would be an understatement. Damen was definitely going to have to undergo some serious purification rites if they made it out of here. He’d never used his magic fueled by rage like that before. He didn’t even know it was possible but it was and it had made him so, so powerful. He recalled the snap of the necromancer’s staff at the swipe of a paw, the crunch of the fighter’s bones in his jaws and shuddered. 

“Hey, it’s ok,” Laurent soothed. “Well, ok. I imagine it was hellish but you did what you had to. They’d have ended both of us otherwise.” 

Damen could only respond by pulling him back in, burying his face in the crook of Laurent’s neck and breathing deep. He was here and he was alive and they just might be ok.

Which of course was exactly when he felt the spell hit him like a sack of stones - the compulsion to sleep dragging his mind down into a deep well of unconsciousness. The last thing he registered was Laurent’s voice, the spell failing to completely wear down the sharp edge, “Oh, you’ve got... to be… fucking kidding me…”

~~~

When he clawed his way back to consciousness, Laurent found himself bound, hands and feet secured to an angled stone slab. There were grooves running down the sides stained dark from previous rituals.

“Gods, how cliche,” he muttered. 

A laugh that transformed into a harsh, rattling cough halfway through came from his left. He could turn his head just enough to see Damen looking back at him. The trickle of blood running down his cheek making his small, smile no less handsome.

“I think it’s safe to say that we’re slated to die by good old fashioned sacrifice,” he observed.

It seemed they had failed. They hadn’t escaped and they hadn’t brought down the cult and Damen’s people would surely continue to die needlessly in pain and fear. Laurent didn’t consider himself the magnanimous type. He liked his life the way it was - he liked his studies and his comfortable home and his family. He wasn’t particularly interested in the adventuring life and he really didn’t want to die. 

However… 

“I have good news and bad news,” he informed Damen, keeping his voice pitched just low enough for the half-orc to hear him.

Damen raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

“I have one last spell prepared. And these arrogant pricks didn’t secure my hands enough to keep me from casting it. It’s… it’s a pretty big one, chances are it’ll take out almost everyone here. Certainly enough of the cult prevent them from carrying out their activities here for a very long time. We could save your people.” 

“We’ll be in the radius of the damage,” Damen concluded calmly.

“Yes.” Laurent saw no reason to dissemble at this point. “And even if we should somehow miraculously escape the storm of falling rocks and massive explosions and resulting firestorm, it will probably kill me to cast it.” 

“Laurent-” Damen’s voice was choked with tears but Laurent knew he wouldn’t argue. 

“Listen, Damen, I never thought I would meet someone like you. I didn’t think someone like you even existed. These last few days I’ve gone from mildly uncomfortable to terrified to bloodied to nearly dead and back again. And they’ve been the best days of my life.” 

He could see Damen strain against his bindings, stretching his muscles to their limit so he could reach just a few inches… the fingers of his left hand brushed Laurent’s. His own hand was already starting to glow as he gathered the last of his energy, forcing his will into the form of the havoc he intended to call down. He could see the shape in his mind, Damen’s face would be the last thing he saw with his eyes.

Tears spilled, joined the blood staining Damen’s cheeks. “I feel the same, Laurent. You know, I -” 

“Ok, we’re gonna have to nip all of that sappy shit _Right_ in the bud, my dudes.”

Laurent felt the spell he’d been building wink out of existence, his magic snuffed out like a candle. He could still feel the power there he just couldn’t use it. 

The voice had come from behind him, immediately following a soft sound that resembled nothing so much as tearing cloth. Its tone was arch and declarative. 

“Taako, after literally hundreds of years of being happily married you still have issues with feelings?” Another voice, very similar to the first but distinctly feminine and intensely amused. 

“I didn’t say they couldn’t _have_ feelings as long as they don’t talk about them.” There was a long pause and the speaker heaved an irritated sigh “...In front of me.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t tell the boss-man,” a third person concluded. Also masculine, voice deeper and far gruffer than the first. And did they say Takko? Like… _Taako_ Taako?! That couldn’t be right.

The cultists had definitely noticed that they had extra guests. The leader was shouting orders while the rank and file scrambled to arms. 

“Oh, I don’t think so,” the mystery woman said. “Let’s just all take a break.” He heard a finger snapping and suddenly everything froze. 

Damen drew in a shocked breath. “By the stars!” 

Laurent had to agree. He’d heard of spells that stopped time but they were very rare and incredibly complex. Besides which he and Damen could still move and talk - Laurent had never heard of a spell that stopped time for anyone except the caster. 

“So…” the first voice drawled, “you boys come here often?” 

Three figures stepped out from behind them and into Laurent’s field of view. The first one seemed to be a human man, average height with brown curling hair, spectacles, and an easy smile. He was followed by an elven woman dressed in a swirling red cloak and brandishing a wickedly sharp scythe. The last member of their party stopped to consider Laurent and he felt his eyes widen in recognition.

The elven man’s face was nearly identical to his female companion’s. He was dressed in a dark, voluminous shirt, very short shorts, and glittering black boots, all topped with a flower and gem bedecked wizard’s hat. There was only one person in the planarverse this could possibly be. And that would make the other two Lup and- 

Laurent slid his gaze over to the human man and yes, he was sporting study blue denim pants under his plain tunic and red jacket. That would be Barry. Actual heroes of the universe. They existed. They were real _and_ they were here to save them. Laurent suddenly recalled tales some of their less glorious exploits. They were probably here to save them. 

“Laurent,” Damen sounded just as awe struck as he was. “Is that really-”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“I kind of thought they were just stories.” 

“That is _legends_ , thank you very much,” Lup said with a smirk. “And we’re quite real.”

“It’s just that we don’t really get around all that much these days,” Barry added. “If you’re meeting us, you’re probably in kind of a lot of trouble. Which you definitely seem to be.” He winked at them. “But luckily for you, you’re not in trouble with us.” With a quick gesture, their bonds disintegrated.

Laurent stumbled to his feet and immediately reached for Damen’s hand. Then he tried not to fidget as the most famous transmutation wizard in history gave them a thorough once-over. “Had to cut that meteor storm of yours short, bucko. Is dying heroically in a flaming inferno your idea of a hot date?”

Damen made a strangled sound next to him - from the stark statement of Laurent’s intentions or the horrible pun Laurent couldn’t say. Instead he utterly failed to keep himself from blurting out his first thought. 

“Oh well, you know. We’re just putting the romance back in necromancy.” 

Several very long moments of silence were broken by Lup’s loud, gleeful laughter. “That’s snappy, Bear, we should get shirts made!”

Taako made an exaggerated gagging sound which only made Lup laugh harder. “Could we, oh I don’t know, get on with the actual job we came here to do. You know,” he waved expansively at the still frozen tableau in front of them, “the whole death cult thing?”

“Oh, I suppose,” Barry allowed magnanimously. He surveyed the frozen array of enemies and turned to Lup, one eyebrow cocked. “Want to keep count this time, babe?”

Lup’s grin flickered momentarily from lovely elven woman to glowing eldritch skull and back again, quick as a thought. She held her hands palm up and they burst into flame. “Oh _hell_ yes.” 

Taako sighed again, “Could you at least _consider_ trying to keep the gross flirting to a minimum, please?” And without ceremony he raised his staff and fired off a spell, shattering the time lock and plunging the room into roiling chaos.

Laurent and Damen stepped back in unspoken agreement and did their best to stay out of the way while the three Reapers decimated the Red Fingers in a display of arcane power and balletic martial skill that looked like it belonged in one of Laurent’s most heavily embellished storybooks.

The cultists certainly put up a fight but it didn’t seem to phase the heroes at all. Within minutes they had incapacitated and restrained the whole group. Lup turned from where she had been interrogating the leader and nodded at Damen. 

“They took captives from the forest; they’re alive,” she said answering the question before he could ask. “I expect they’ll take things much better if you’re with me and I imagine you’d like to see them. Follow me.” She spun on her heel and made her way to a doorway off to the right. 

Laurent gave Damen a reassuring nod when the half-orc looked at him, clearly torn between seeing his people safe and making sure Laurent was ok. “I promise I’ll be here when you get back.” 

Barry seemed to be engaged in going through the cultists’ things - rooting through chests and thumbing pages making interested sounds.

Which left Laurent with Taako. Hero of legend and one of the most powerful and inventive casters ever. He might have read every tale about the Seven Birds he could track down. It was possible he had a tiny case of hero worship. Laurent did his best to keep his expression impassive while Taako considered him. 

“I imagine you know us from story and song and all that jazz.” He sounded almost bored but Laurent wasn’t fooled. He knew that under all of that softly waving hair and shimmering eyes was a mind like a deadly steel trap, whirling away. 

He swallowed and summoned his courage, “Well yes. Also I’m a student in Neverwinter and while my school is currently known as The Neverwinter Grand Academy of Unified Magic, it was founded under a rather different name. I believe it was originally Taako’s School of Wizardry, Cantrips, and Other Magics. There’s a statue of you in the atrium.” 

It was quite a good statue, it managed to portray the famous wizard as someone who wielded enormously powerful spells that could reduce you to ash where you stood but also might be trying to hit on you. And who was probably making snide judgements about your footwear.

Taako seemed rather surprised. Laurent decided to press his luck. “...You’re hard to forget.”

The elf blinked at Laurent a few times and in the long moments of silence that passed Laurent was sure that he had blown it. But then his beautiful face split into a grin and he broke out in peals of laughter, nearly doubling over giggling. “I like your style, kid. Good taste in traveling companions too,” he added, waggling his eyebrows in a way that would haunt Laurent’s dreams. “You should hang on to that one.” 

“I’ll… see what I can do about that,” Laurent replied faintly, wanting nothing more than to change the subject as Damen and Lup were returning with a group of Circle members in tow. 

As Lup and Barry sorted out their new captives and did a last thorough check of the surrounding rooms, Takko explained to them that they were in fact Reapers working for the Raven Queen and had been hunting this particular splinter cult for a while.

“We knew _basically_ where they were, I guess. But we couldn’t just like, walk around the woods hoping we’d run into a stupid necromancer.” The elf gestured expansively as he talked, “So we were keeping an eye on the area so to speak. When you started to charge up the big guns, it got our attention. We figured something must be going down.” 

“We’d have been lost without you, how can we thank you,” Damen asked. 

Taako shrugged one shoulder, “Oh, you know, all in a day’s work. Be nice to a raven or something.” 

“I’m always nice to animals,” Damen muttered to himself. Laurent elbowed him gently in the ribs. 

Soon the Reapers had everything sorted out and started opening portals - one to the Astral Plane where Barry started chucking the cultists’ effects and then with slightly more care, the actual cultists, and another to a familiar looking area near the Circle’s main enclave.

“We’ve taken the liberty of transporting your associates back as well,” Lup said. “No reason to keep them wandering around in a panic looking for you.” 

“Wow,” Damen said, “this really is a full service rescue.” 

Lup just ushered them through the portal with a sweeping bow. 

The twins followed them through before closing the rift behind them. Damen’s rescued people rushed ahead, into the main enclave to rejoin their friends and families. Damen and Laurent paused to say goodbye. 

“Good job not beefing it with those cultists, I guess.” Taako said with a small smile. “Maybe from now on, try to stay out of trouble.”

Laurent summoned his most arch, aristocratic look. “Did that ever work for you?”

Lup chuckled, knocking her shoulder companionably against her brother’s. “Ooooo, he’s got your number there, dingus!”

Taako knocked her right back. “Takes one to know one, goofus.” He sniffed haughtily at them. “Well, whatever. You’re going to die soon anyway with that pitiful human lifespan of yours. Have fun and kick some magical ass, I guess. In the name of the most excellent magic academy ever.”

“I’ll do my best to follow in your prestigious legacy,” Laurent promised solemnly.

Taako grinned and sliced a doorway open with his staff and the twins headed through with a wave. 

And just like that they were alone again, just for the space of a few breaths. People were waiting for them, after all. “Shall we,” he asked, tipping his head toward the main path.

“I guess at this point, we really must,” Damen agreed with a small, almost reluctant smile. He reached out and took Laurent’s hand for a moment, squeezing it once before pulling back. They walked down the path towards the circle of light shoulder to shoulder.

~~~

There was a day of reunions. Damen’s people returning home from captivity, the princes turning up alive and mostly unharmed, their small exploration party being whole once again. Laurent’s brother Auguste had been dispatched to the Circle and was there to see his brother return. They all took time to let their emotions run their course and give detailed reports. It had been a very interesting series of meetings. 

After another day of rest and recovery the Circle and the Neverwinter representatives formally renewed their alliance in a public ceremony. 

Damen had managed to snag a few moments of private time with Laurent but as his departure loomed ever closer, those moments seemed to fade more and more. He tried not to be very disappointed, they had never really talked things through, after all. 

It didn’t keep Laurent from being luminous, his blue eyes deep pools and pale skin glowing in the late afternoon sun. He did his best to commit them to memory, it would be a good thought for his meditations when Laurent was back home far away.

Finally they had come to the end of the ceremony. “Here’s to the Circle of Tall Trees and the Silverspring clan of Neverwinter, to a long and prosperous partnership,” Damen held out a hand for Laurent to shake. Laurent looked around, clearly taking in the audience: all the leaders of the Circle and the Neverwinter delegation, Damen’s brother, his _own_ brother, and everyone… and took Damen’s hand, using it to pull him forward abruptly, catching him in a kiss.

Damen was shocked but he didn’t hesitate to melt into Laurent’s embrace, his arms wrapping around the wizard’s waist, lips curving into a smile even as they kissed. He felt light, giddy, like his body was flooded with rich, golden sunshine. 

When they finally parted, moving just far back enough to look at each other, the gathered audience erupted into cheers. Damen filtered out his mother’s sound of pleased surprise and the loud catcalling from Jokaste and Nicaise. He tilted his head down to touch his forehead to Laurent’s, closing his eyes and grinning happily. “Huzzah,” he murmured. 

“Huzzah,” Laurent agreed with amusement. “To us.”


End file.
